Prepping my Caravan for my Alaska adventure

[Geocritter]

My full-time home is a Class A RV. It’s very comfortable when parked and set up, but with its size and the 6-7mpg it gets, except for numerous month-long relocations, I explore in my 25mpg Dodge Caravan. This year I’m taking my Caravan explorations to a new level. I’m putting my RV in storage for two months and starting this May I’ll be driving to Alaska and back in my Caravan. To make the Caravan more camping friendly I’ve made the following interior modification.


I added a 4’x6’ sleeping platform with underneath storage accessed through three separate and removable 2’x4’ panels that make up the top surface of the platform.


Here’s a photo of the sleeping platform from the rear. I’ll be sleeping on two thick foam dinette cushions that I’ll borrow from my RV. The red cooler in the photo is where I store all my various cookware, spices, etc. As can be seen with my campstove, the rear of the platform doubles as a kitchen area. When not in use, the cooler is stored under the platform.


I’ve equipped one of my hydraulic rear lift gate supports with a sliding support lock (the hydraulic lift support doesn’t work well in cold weather). This way I can cook my meals or sit outside in a lawn chair even if it’s raining.

Building the platform was easy. I had all the wood pre-cut at the lumber yard and assembled it in about an hour back at the RV park. The platform cost about $65 in materials. According to my research, the exterior grade OSB I’m using contains a generally considered hazard free low out-gas emitting phenol formaldehyde.

Back in the 1980-90’s I equipped several Caravans I had exactly the same way to take my kids on camping trips and it worked out great!

Steve

[SteveAE]

We have done similar in both a Jeep and a Caravan. It should save you quite a bit on fuel....though you will probably spend some of your savings on motel rooms and eating out once in awhile.
Some thing I did:
- Magnetic strips to hold the mosquito netting to the outside of the doors.
- Roof racks and a rocket box for more storage.
- Side awning supported by the roof rack. I clamped a 4" PVC tube to the racks and then used a tarp attached to the tube with trucker straps and two extendable tent poles and guy lines to hold the outer two corners. Worked great. To store, just roll up, shove inside the tube and cap.
- If you haven't already, remove the second bench seat.
Have fun.

[Geocritter]

When I was in college at SIU I used to go camping, caving, and tubing in southern Missouri's Current River area. I worked up a nice doorway screen using mosquito netting that I installed in the Ford Econoline van I had then and it worked very well. I'll take photo's of the setup when I get it installed on my Caravan. As for sleeping in daylight, I've always had excellent success wearing a sleep mask over my eyes. One thing I'm good at is sleeping!

BTW, this is how I expect to do a good deal of my cooking.


FWIW, it takes a few hours but the engine heat will eventually get the food up to about 160 degrees.

Steve

[2lazy4U]

Go to a hardware store and buy a roll of soft flexible window screen with a small enough grid to keep mosquitoes out. Also buy a dozen or so strong magnets. You can cut the screen so it fits OVER the door frame, then you can drape it over the door, close it, use the magnets to hold it in place both inside and out. That way you can open and close your windows w/o the screens getting in the way. You will want to be able to open the windows when it's hot and not have bugs get in. It was 85 degrees at midnight last June when I camped in Denali State Park and the bugs were horrible, the screens really worked. I was able to sleep in my SUV with the windows partly open and not die from the heat.

You can special order a screen for the back door window. I have a big mosquito net that I drape over the whole door when I need to have it open and cook, etc. and it keeps the bugs from getting in. I would also recommend blackout curtains so you can sleep at night.

[Marine_By_Choic]

Now the only other thing to consider is how to control those pesky mosquitos! Nice job.